Are rocker panels supposed to be black, or body color?

Either, although there may be a system to why some are and some aren't.

 

My theory: black if US nose spoiler to keep the lines of the car correct. Red if Euro (lower nose spoiler) again to keep the lines of the car correct.

 

My 83 is red and a US car. So much for the theory.

 

Don't know the answer to your question, but just to add a data point.

My US (short front spoiler) 82 GTSi originally had body color rockers (verticals). Once the sheet metal turned more horizontal, its painted black. We've sanded them down as part of a complete respray, and there was no black to be found in the layers of paint and primer on the vertical section of the rockers that run right beneath the doors.

Best Regards,
John M

 

I wish they would have listened. Lol. I should have said "my prefrence".

See: post #2 in

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=354123&highlight=308+paint

 

Mine are black....

Oh, erm black car... Never mind...

 

John, how did your blue (Azzurro) turn out? What did you do with the rockers?

 

LOL

 

Hi Robert:

Its still a work in progress. We matched the paint color to the correct code (502). And have done some test spray outs. The color looks great. Body is in the sanding stage. Rocker color wise I am leaning original (at least to mine), but you make an excellent point in blacking them out. I may eventually get the full euro look, so I am keeping that in mind. The door rust was far more significant than a few bubbles. We ended up replacing the skin on the lower 5" or so of both doors. Where the outer skin meets the inner door frame will be a future concern for all non galvanized 308's. Bottoms of the doors need better drains is the short story. And make sure the ones that are there flow. The repaired doors look baby bottom smooth with no sign of the repairs. The rest of the body is very minor work. Bumpers came out perfect too. The US front had to be skinned and rust removed from inside as it was deforming the rubber. I am sure I spent more on that bumper than purchasing a new Euro.

Best Regards,
John M

 

My US '83, all-original paint, is red excepting louvers, bumpers, grille, door handles and trim pieces, and the exhaust cover.

 

When I bought my 77 with original paint US car. The lower part of the rocker below the bent was black. The almost vertical part just below the door was bodycolor.

 

Glad to hear your moving right along. Can't wait for the pics!

 

I'm not positive, but I think the black rockers became standard in 1984 along with the black windshield surround on GTSs

Dave

 

My guess is that the rockers may have been painted black to perform rust repair work without painting the whole car. There might have been a colour match issue.

 

Blue 83 euro with black rockers

 

Rosso '83 US Car, black.

MB

 

I just about spit all over the monitor when i saw that picture. I had to look close to verify it wasn't an old pic of my car

That looks almost exactly like my '79 car did when i bought it in 1984, right down to the sheep skin seat covers.

My car, with its original paint, had black rocker panels, from the factory, near as i can tell, as I am the second owner. Though the black rockers may have been a dealer add on.

i did change the color to a grigio chiaro a few years later as the factory paint was checking badly, and well, the Chiaro oro, wasn't really my bag, though it was a nice color.

Doug

 

I was just about to start a new thread on this, when I decided to also do a quick search for "rockers" instead of "sills"

But there is still no rule for which cars have body colored rockers and which have black rockers? What were they thinking in that factory?


My euro GTB QV (built in 1982) has body colored rockers for the first part below the doors.
Below the bend it is black, but I think that is always the case on all cars.

The GTB QV brochure I have (from 82/83) also shows this, so I think it is correct.


But a friend of mine is looking at 208 GTB Turbo's (and bought one) and some are body color and some are totally black. Very strange.

 

Not complicated at all...

I do not know for the "Turbo's", we have to wait on Alberto...

But for the 308s it is very simple:
1. rocker panels when painted originaly by the factory with the lowest half in black, the upper half in body color (the dividing line is the crease in the rocker panel) until "about end of 1983 production".
Sometime in 1984 (perhaps very early 1984) the rocker panels became all black.
This explain why QVs in original paint can be seen with both schemes: early production QVs (1982 and &983) have rockers panels in the two tone scheme, late production QVs have them in black.
All cars from an earlier variant than a QV should have the rocker panels in "half body color / half black" ; if not, then it is not original.
Simple, isn't it?

Rgds

 

Okay thanks!
Maybe the same for Turbo's, but Alberto might know that better indeed.

 

Yes, I would tend to think it is the same for the "Turbos", as these were the equivalent of the QV, but Alberto knows these cars much better than I do.
The change was perhaps between Model Year 1983 and 1984 (which would put it at "about september 1983", but the pivot point change with the years) or between the 1983 production, and the 1984 production.
About half of the QVs with the "old scheme", about the other half with the new one...

Rgds

 

My '80 GTSi came with red rockers...I painted them black

 

My 1985 QV is Black with Black Rockers, - should I re-do them Black..?

 

FWIW my July '83 is body color (red) on http://308-328.com/308/308spectechqven.html it says that in late '83 several changes were made - windshield scuttle and targa hoop go body color and rockers go satin black.